Oops, I bought gluten-free matzo meal. How bad is this going to be?

April 10, 2020 5:42 PM

It was my first shopping trip in a month, so I guess I'm out of practice. I accidentally grabbed gluten-free matzo meal. I just want to make some matzo balls. Are they going to be terrible? HOW terrible? What if I have a bit of stale gluten-containing matzo meal I could mix in? Any and all tips are appreciated, including "feed it to pigeons and enjoy matzo balls after next month's shopping trip."
posted by juliapangolin to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

I haven’t gotten into my thing of Manischewitz GF matzo meal yet BUT I’ve been going hard on Streits GF instant matzo ball mix, which is highly passable. The matzo meal appears to be made of the same stuff, so I think you’re in for perfectly acceptable, if excessively fluffy and slightly potato-tasting, kneidlach.

ETA: by “passable” and “acceptable” I mean I think they’re actively good but I also haven’t had real ones since my celiac diagnosis a decade ago
posted by cabbage raccoon at 5:46 PM on April 10, 2020

My mom has celiac and uses it and hasn't said it's awful and we are not, as a people shy about pointing out when something is lousy...
posted by less of course at 5:52 PM on April 10, 2020 [4 favorites]

I can't speak to the matzo ball potential or the specific brand in question, but I recall trying a gluten free matzo at a previous seder and finding it somewhat tastier than the regular sort.
posted by eponym at 6:18 PM on April 10, 2020

What are the ingredients? A friend made her matzo balls with chick-pea flour, reports they were tasty.
posted by theora55 at 6:23 PM on April 10, 2020

Gluten free products have improved amazingly in the past decade. Back when I first had to go gluten free I'd have said you made a terrible and expensive mistake but now I think it was probably unnecessarily expensive but will taste fine.
posted by kitten magic at 10:12 PM on April 10, 2020

the magic of even gluten containing matzoh balls is that they take what is essentially powdered cardboard and magically transform it into a delicious dish. you will be fine.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 4:37 AM on April 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Picky gluten-lover here, with a GF partner. Streit’s GF mix is actively good and nobody in my world can tell the difference.
posted by thejoshu at 7:07 AM on April 11, 2020